Two armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery...

AURORA — Two armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery occurred Tuesday in a four- block stretch of East New York Street between 3:40 p.m. and 6:05 p.m., according to police reports.

The first occurred at the JB Thrift Store, 955 E. New York St., when a man wearing a brown ski mask entered the store, pointed what he said was a gun from inside his pocket and demanded money from the clerk. The clerk gave him $36 from the register, and the robber fled.

Shortly after that, police arrested 21-year-old Bernard Thurmond Dawkins, 955 2nd Ave., who fit the description of the robber, at 1115 Kane St., but the clerk later said he was too thin to be the man who robbed the store.

Because Dawkins allegedly had a handgun in his possession, police charged him with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Dawkins, who has served 2 1/2 years in prison and has five convictions on his record, was being held Wednesday in lieu of $35,000 bail at Kane County Jail.

An attempted robbery occurred at Kentucky Fried Chicken, 1350 E. New York St., when a 25-year-old woman pulled up to the drive-through and opened her car window. A man wearing a brown ski mask grabbed her hair, stuck a gun in her face and demanded the money she held in her hand.

The woman accelerated, breaking free of the robber, who then fled.

In the third incident, a man wearing a black stocking over his face and a black cap on his head entered Elenita`s Unisex Salon, 1036 E. New York St., said he had a gun beneath his coat and demanded money. He was given a $10 bill and then fled.